In the hours following the start of the Iran-Israel ceasefire, US President Donald Trump published footage of B2 Stealth Bombers taking off for Iran, dubbed with the lyrics “bomb, bomb Iran” sung to the tune of The Regents’ Barbara Ann - a song made popular by the Beach Boys.
The post, published on Wednesday, included the lyrics: “Went to a mosque, gonna throw some rocks/ Tell the Ayatollah, 'Gonna put you in a box!'" and “Ol' Uncle Sam's gettin' pretty hot/ Time to turn Iran into a parking lot.”
While a parody of Barbara Ann, the song was first written in the 1980s by Vince Vance & the Valiants, according to Snopes, during the hostage crisis in which American nationals were held hostage for 444 days.
On November 4, 1979, Iranian students seized the US embassy in Tehran and detained more than 50 Americans.
Trump's peacekeeping efforts during Israel-Iran war
Despite posting the song, and the lyrics threatening to put Ayatolla Ali Khamenei in a “box,” Trump advocated against Israel continuing attacks against Iran and against killing Iran’s supreme leader.
Trump vetoed an Israeli plan to assassinate Khamenei since Operation Rising Lion began, two unidentified US officials told Reuters during the 12-Day War.
Trump also claimed in a Friday social media post that he saved Khamenei from "A VERY UGLY AND IGNOMINIOUS DEATH."
The president also criticized both Israel and Iran for ceasefire violations in the hours after it came into effect, asserting that the war needed to end.
“I’m not happy with Israel. You know, when I say, ‘OK now you have 12 hours,’ you don’t go out to the first hour, just drop everything you have on, so I’m not happy with them. I’m not happy with Iran either,” he told reporters from the White House lawn.
Amichai Stein, Corinne Baum, and Reuters contributed to this report.